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Moore v. Harper
Moore v. Harper, 600 U.S. 1 (2023), is a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that rejected the independent state legislature theory (ISL), a theory that asserts state legislatures have sole authority to establish election laws for federal elections within their respective states without judicial review by state courts, without presentment to state governors, and without constraint by state constitutions. The case arose from the redistricting of North Carolina's districts by its legislature after the 2020 United States census, which the state courts found to be too artificial and partisan and an extreme case of gerrymandering in favor of the Republican Party.
In June 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6–3 decision that the Elections Clause does not give state legislatures sole power over elections, rejecting ISL.
North Carolina's congressional and legislative districts have been subject to protracted litigation during the 2010s and 2020s in both federal and state courts. In the 2019 decision Rucho v. Common Cause, which arose out of North Carolina's district maps, the Supreme Court held that partisan gerrymandering claims are beyond the reach of federal courts, and that asking for judicial intervention would represent an expansion of powers.
Federal courts can still evaluate redistricting maps for racial gerrymandering under both the Fifteenth Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 2017, the North Carolina General Assembly modified state law to direct that the speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the North Carolina Senate may intervene in any litigation over the constitutionality of state law. After the 2020 U.S. census, the state gained an additional seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and required redistricting. The census also showed that the state was about 60% white, with African Americans and Hispanics the largest nonwhite groups. The Republican-controlled legislature started drafting new maps that it claimed were in line with a 2019 North Carolina Supreme Court ruling that required that the maps comply with the Voting Rights Act to avoid racial gerrymandering, along with an open and transparent process to the state's voters. Dan Blue, the state senate's Democratic leader, said the resulting maps advantaged the Republican Party in ten districts and the Democrats in four. Multiple lawsuits were filed against the leaders of the North Carolina legislature in November 2021 on claims that the maps were gerrymandered both by race and by party.
Wake County Superior Court upheld the maps in January 2022. Of the partisan gerrymandering, the court wrote that, per Rucho, "Were we as a court to insert ourselves in the manner requested, we would be usurping the political power and prerogatives of an equal branch of government." The court also said the plaintiffs had not shown sufficient evidence that the new maps were racially gerrymandered. On appeal, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled the maps unconstitutional in a 4–3 decision in February 2022. Under remand to the superior court, the General Assembly attempted to draw new maps to comply with the Supreme Court decision, but these failed to satisfy the judges on the superior court. A special master team of outside experts was assigned to create a new map, which the superior court accepted on February 24, 2022.
On February 25, 2022, the General Assembly sought a stay for the newly drawn maps pending appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, to allow for review of the Elections Clause issue. It was denied on March 7, 2022, over the dissent of Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas. Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred, asserting the Purcell principle counseled against intervention so soon before the election.
Throughout the litigation, the General Assembly argued its case based on independent state legislature theory (ISL). This theory is based on language from the Elections Clause in Article I of the U.S. Constitution, which reads:
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing [sic] Senators.
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Moore v. Harper
Moore v. Harper, 600 U.S. 1 (2023), is a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that rejected the independent state legislature theory (ISL), a theory that asserts state legislatures have sole authority to establish election laws for federal elections within their respective states without judicial review by state courts, without presentment to state governors, and without constraint by state constitutions. The case arose from the redistricting of North Carolina's districts by its legislature after the 2020 United States census, which the state courts found to be too artificial and partisan and an extreme case of gerrymandering in favor of the Republican Party.
In June 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6–3 decision that the Elections Clause does not give state legislatures sole power over elections, rejecting ISL.
North Carolina's congressional and legislative districts have been subject to protracted litigation during the 2010s and 2020s in both federal and state courts. In the 2019 decision Rucho v. Common Cause, which arose out of North Carolina's district maps, the Supreme Court held that partisan gerrymandering claims are beyond the reach of federal courts, and that asking for judicial intervention would represent an expansion of powers.
Federal courts can still evaluate redistricting maps for racial gerrymandering under both the Fifteenth Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 2017, the North Carolina General Assembly modified state law to direct that the speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives and the president pro tempore of the North Carolina Senate may intervene in any litigation over the constitutionality of state law. After the 2020 U.S. census, the state gained an additional seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and required redistricting. The census also showed that the state was about 60% white, with African Americans and Hispanics the largest nonwhite groups. The Republican-controlled legislature started drafting new maps that it claimed were in line with a 2019 North Carolina Supreme Court ruling that required that the maps comply with the Voting Rights Act to avoid racial gerrymandering, along with an open and transparent process to the state's voters. Dan Blue, the state senate's Democratic leader, said the resulting maps advantaged the Republican Party in ten districts and the Democrats in four. Multiple lawsuits were filed against the leaders of the North Carolina legislature in November 2021 on claims that the maps were gerrymandered both by race and by party.
Wake County Superior Court upheld the maps in January 2022. Of the partisan gerrymandering, the court wrote that, per Rucho, "Were we as a court to insert ourselves in the manner requested, we would be usurping the political power and prerogatives of an equal branch of government." The court also said the plaintiffs had not shown sufficient evidence that the new maps were racially gerrymandered. On appeal, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled the maps unconstitutional in a 4–3 decision in February 2022. Under remand to the superior court, the General Assembly attempted to draw new maps to comply with the Supreme Court decision, but these failed to satisfy the judges on the superior court. A special master team of outside experts was assigned to create a new map, which the superior court accepted on February 24, 2022.
On February 25, 2022, the General Assembly sought a stay for the newly drawn maps pending appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, to allow for review of the Elections Clause issue. It was denied on March 7, 2022, over the dissent of Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas. Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred, asserting the Purcell principle counseled against intervention so soon before the election.
Throughout the litigation, the General Assembly argued its case based on independent state legislature theory (ISL). This theory is based on language from the Elections Clause in Article I of the U.S. Constitution, which reads:
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing [sic] Senators.